Mobile apps aren't just for retailers and banks anymore. A wide variety of businesses are using apps to attract and retain customers, create a powerful new marketing channel or give their employees or business partners tools that enable them to be more efficient and productive.

"Mobile is now on the minds of even the most conservative companies -- everyone from local government to furniture makers to chemical manufacturers," says Jason Wong, an analyst at Gartner. "It's almost becoming a detriment if you're not rolling out mobile apps to your workers or your business partners."

Earlier this year, the IDG Enterprise Digital Edge 25 awards program honored 25 organizations that are using digital technologies to transform the way they do business. The experiences of two of the winners — Horizon NJ Health and DMEautomotive — illustrate how mobile applications can improve efficiency and grow revenue.

Health insurer broadens its horizons

How do you deliver healthcare to a man who lives under a bridge?

That was the challenge facing Horizon NJ Health as it entered a new market created by a Medicaid program that the state of New Jersey launched in July 2014. The program, Managed Long Term Services and Supports (MLTSS), was designed to provide care to poor, disabled and elderly people. Unlike any previous program, MLTSS required Horizon to deliver services outside of the traditional healthcare system.

"At the core of this program are care managers, nurses and social workers who spend the majority of their time out with people, in people's homes, in the community -- meeting people wherever they might be, including under bridges," says Erhardt Prei­tauer, senior vice president of government programs at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey and CEO of Horizon NJ Health, New Jersey's largest Medicaid plan.